Eagle-eye snowbird: Winter visitor captures viral bird photos

Published: Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 12:54 PM.

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“They were patient enough to wait 15, 20 minutes for me to figure out how to zoom,” she said.

She ended up with 12 photos of the birds, but only one of the pair, as they kept their distance from each other.

“The left one stayed pretty much in one little spot and the one on the right moved around and looked up at me,” she said, but she was unable to get a close-up shot of both in the frame, as “They never got any closer.”

Even from her perch on the condo’s balcony, Edwards said she knew the birds had some personality.

“One, he’s got this mean look on his face, and he’s saying, ‘Quit taking pictures,’ ” she related with a laugh. The other, she said was bristling as well, but only because it had just taken a dip in the ocean.

Though Edwards was astonished at the sight, Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge Director Amanda Wilkerson said this is not a totally unusual sight.

“We have eagles in our area and they do eat fish,” she said. “More or less, it’s just a cool thing to see.”

At 11 a.m. Tuesday, Sally Edwards saw something from her Seagrove condo that she had never seen before.

“I looked out and there they were,” she said of a pair of bald eagles on the edge of the surf.

In all of the nine years Sally and her husband, Larry, have visited as Snowbirds from their home in Birmingham, Ala., they have never seen anything like it.

“We see a lot of activity … We rent a unit at the Dunes of Seagrove — the same one every year — and we are fortunate enough to have it on the end,” said Edwards, adding that even from that vantage point, they have seen “nothing like this” in all of the years they’ve visited.

“We look out a lot. What we are looking for are the dolphins. With the view that we have, it’s beautiful anytime,” Edwards said.

But this past Tuesday morning, after hanging up the phone with her brother in St. Louis, Edwards’ view was graced with something a little more unusual than dolphins.

Edwards used her iPhone at first to photograph the eagles, but quickly realized that wouldn’t do and grabbed her camera and memory card.

“They were patient enough to wait 15, 20 minutes for me to figure out how to zoom,” she said.

She ended up with 12 photos of the birds, but only one of the pair, as they kept their distance from each other.

“The left one stayed pretty much in one little spot and the one on the right moved around and looked up at me,” she said, but she was unable to get a close-up shot of both in the frame, as “They never got any closer.”

Even from her perch on the condo’s balcony, Edwards said she knew the birds had some personality.

“One, he’s got this mean look on his face, and he’s saying, ‘Quit taking pictures,’ ” she related with a laugh. The other, she said was bristling as well, but only because it had just taken a dip in the ocean.

Though Edwards was astonished at the sight, Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge Director Amanda Wilkerson said this is not a totally unusual sight.

“We have eagles in our area and they do eat fish,” she said. “More or less, it’s just a cool thing to see.”

But comments on Facebook after Edwards shared the photos would seem to point otherwise.

Edwards shared the photos with SoWal Tuesday, and by the end of the day, there were 1,000 shares of the pictures.

“I did not know it was such a phenomenal thing until I started reading what everyone said,” said Edwards of the comments ranging from 35-year residents never having seen such a thing to just plain “awesome.”

“It’s such an unusual thing, I just want anyone who sees it to enjoy it. I just happened to be the one who had the ‘Godwink’ to capture it.”

“The whole day was special,” she added. “First, the two eagles graced us with a visit in front of our condo. Then, after the rain, a beautiful rainbow to the east, awesome sunset to the west and full moon to the east. I just wanted you to see what my husband and I enjoyed in ‘one day at the beach.’ ”